"Last Comic" John Heffron home for shows at Comedy Castle, Royal Oak

Detroit's "Last Comic Standing" winner is coming to the Comedy Castle. His name is John Heffron and he is ready to make Michigan laugh.

Heffron won the competition in 2004 and has since been cemented as one of the country's leading funnymen.

"I enjoyed it, a lot of guys didn't, but I won it, so I sort of came out of it with a different energy than most people did. ... It really started getting people to recognize me."

IF YOU GO

John Heffron performs Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 11-13, at Mark Ridley's Comedy Castle, 310 S. Troy St., Royal Oak, 248-542-9900, www.comedycastle.com. Tickets are $20 and his shows will be 8 p.m. Thursday, and 8 and 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Now based in Los Angeles, Heffron is keeping busy performing and starring in the weekly Heffron and Reep Podcast at heffronandreep.com.

"We sort of modeled it after an '80s rock morning show. It's kind of like if you're a comic you need to have a podcast now, or else you're the guy without one, you know? But it's amazing how many listeners you get," says Heffron. "It's a fun thing to do, and a great way to stay in touch with fans because you do the shows and then you come into town and people have been listening to you on a weekly basis. You can come back to a city and find that your fan base has grown, it's great."

Heffron's last album "Kid with a Cape" was released in 2007 and he is planning a new album -- deciding where to shoot it and how to release it -- and has just released a new app: "A passive-aggressive soundboard for married couples."

Heffron is excited to be back in the Detroit area, near family and friends. But he notes there is one distinct disadvantage for comedians that comes from performing around people who know you so well.

"When you perform where you grew up, you have people that you've known forever show up at shows, which is great, but in every other city you can put on a fake persona and embellish the stories you tell, but in your hometown they will call you on it." He laughs.

"I appreciate the 23 years that you guys have been coming to see me from the twenty-something open-mic guy to my current forty-something barely known guy."